Hogar's Journal (Translated from Giant)
Year 781 of the founding of the City
30th Day of Garmensis – Part I
Silverkin Manor – The Library
The next day Glen awoke to find himself feverishly convulsing in his bedroll. Upon inspection Minron discovered that the werewolf had bitten him and passed on some sort of disease. Fortunately the dwarf is a hardy creature and Minron was able to heal him relatively easily. After rising and sorting ourselves out we proceeded down the stairs towards the only ground floor door which we had yet to explore.
As we descended the staircase the temperature in the entrance hall noticeably dropped. Glen pushed his way through the double doors and found himself in a lavish library. Books lined all four walls floor to ceiling with a walkway about 20 feet up to allow access to the highest shelves. On the walkway stood a human form swathed in a red robe. Vic attempted to hail the figure from our position in the doorway but before he could speak three skulls, formerly part of the Skull Lord we had dispatched, appeared before us and instructed Vic to leave.
Before we could respond three frozen zombies shambled out from between the bookcases. All the while the robed figure seemed unaware of what was transpiring beneath his feet. A fireball manifested towards the ceiling of the room and streaked towards the doorway where we were gathered. I managed to dive out of the way but the heat radiating from it still singed me. The others were less fortunate. Another four zombies, this time not frozen, appeared from amongst the books. I managed to regain my feet and dispatch two of them with arrows quickly. Eligos and Minron were also able to quickly shake off the effects of the fireball and dispatch the other two "normal" zombies.
As we moved in to take on the frozen zombies the cold radiating from them became all pervasive. We struggled to move properly for the shivering they induced. Every touch from them seared the skin and numbed the senses. All the while the triumvirate of skulls flitted amongst us flinging spells at us as they passed.
I don't know how long we fought before the robed figure deigned to notice us. It seemed like an eternity as tears froze over my eyeballs and my fingers struggled to draw back my bowstring. Eventually I heard him ask what was going on but was unable to answer as the zombies pressed their attack. Vic said something to him that sounded ridiculously polite given the circumstances. Even having witnessed our predicament he did not see fit to intervene on either side but continued to read his damned books.
We managed to dispatch all of our foes only for the robed man to complain at the mess! I called him the ignorant fool he clearly demonstrated himself to be. The next thing I knew I was flying through the air backwards into the entrance hall, only stopping when I collided with one of the suits of armour on the far wall.
I came around a few moments later and returned to the room to find the old man leading my companions to the kitchens. Apparently the old fool is Jacob Silverkin himself and the necromancer responsible for raising the dead is located in his basement.
Hogar's Journal (Translated from Giant)
Year 781 of the founding of the City
30th Day of Garmensis – Part II
Silverkin Manor – The Basement
Steep wooden stairs descended into a dank and dark basement. Condensation flecked bricks swam across my vision. I came to realise that I had struck my head when Silverkin threw me across the room upstairs. Last into the basement, as I looked into the dimly lit room I saw two skeleton retiarii armed with trident and net facing off against Eligos. Quickly she was engulfed by their nets but before they could press the attack Rodney pushed them back with a thunderous energy wave.
Suddenly from the shadows pale vampire spawn emerged and closed in on us. Freshly turned they hungered for their first meal. Stumbling from the last step into the basement I noticed some barrels to my left from where I could get a better vantage point. I staggered over to the barrels and leapt atop them only to find myself face to face with a vampire spawn. Without room to use my bow I took a swing at him with my sword but failed to connect. Over my shoulder I heard a mighty crash as Minron charged at the retiarii closely followed by Glenn. I couldn't see clearly but their attack didn't seem to go well and before long Minron was being driven back under a flurry of trident thrusts.
Gradually I became aware of a skittering scratching sound coming from underneath the barrel I stood upon. The others told me later that this sound had been present throughout the encounter but I had been too groggy to notice. As the vampire pressed an attack on me he disturbed the barrels and hundreds, perhaps thousands of rats swarmed into the room engulfing me instantly. The next several moments were even more of blur than those previously as innumerable pairs of tiny fangs sunk into my flesh. I struck out at the vampire who had disturbed the rodents and thought I heard a body crumple to the floor as I staggered away blindly.
The passage of time was marked only by agony. Agony which reached its crescendo with an orange flash as flames seared my skin. Rodney had dealt with the rats by engaging both them and me in a column of flame. I dropped to one knee as the roasted carcasses of rats dropped from my body to the ground. Fury engulfed me as I rose to my feet, finally with the space to use my bow. There were no longer any young vampires standing and only one of the retiarii still menaced with trident and net. My companions had been doing their jobs well. I sent an arrow clattering amongst the ribcage of the remaining skeleton and narrowly missed with another. This distraction was enough for Glenn to step in and reduce him to a pile of bones with a crashing blow from his ugrosh.
A yelp from Diefenbaker drew my attention to a new enemy in the room. The tall and graceful figure of a female eladrin withdrew the blade of a magical dagger from Dief's flank. As she turned her hooded face to mine I could see that the pale complexion so characteristic of the high elves had taken on a grey tint, the pallor of the undead.
Suddenly Vicrael teleported alongside me. He seemed to think having been swarmed by rats and roasted alive by Rodney that I was in a fit state to lend my life-force to a spell he wanted to use to poison the vampiric eladrin. I told him that if he laid a finger on me if would be the last thing he did. The senile old duffer went ahead and attacked with poison anyway. It was no surprise when the vampire was largely unaffected.
Summoning all of my concentration I sent a shaft through the creature's left eye. Amazingly she remained standing. Immediately sensing the danger this powerful being posed Minron rushed in. He impaled her on his sword and the high elf screamed in pain, the three vicious attacks in succession having some effect on her. After an initial hesitation Eligos transformed into the fearsome ram and charged home. The vampire staggered but still refused to go down. Glenn stepped into the fray and clove his axe into her torso where it stuck with a sickening squelch. The diabolical creature screamed again but still would not fall. Undeterred the stout dwarf placed his foot on her midriff and hauled the blade free. Putting all of his not inconsiderable strength behind one final blow the axe head sunk into her shoulder and penetrated deep into her chest. The vampire threw back her head and unleashed a deafening death cry. Her body suddenly evaporated around Glenn's axe and coalesced into a ghostly form floating above our heads. An eerie silence descended as it became apparent that there were no more enemies in the room.
The ghost of the vampire was drawn, as though a plug had been pulled somewhere, through a door on the far side of the room into a second chamber. As one we all turned to follow.
Hogar's Journal (Translated from Giant)
Year 781 of the founding of the City
30th Day of Garmensis – Part III
Silverkin Manor – Epilogue
Moving into the second chamber we encountered the robed form of a mage standing over the prone figure of an elf. His robes betrayed him as a Vampire Lord, a powerful foe indeed. He was performing some sort of chant, no doubt intending to raise the elf as another undead minion. The ghost of the eladrin vampire floated over to the mage and settled beside him. The mage went on to berate "Frieda" for failing to deal with us, as he was now too weak to do so himself. This made sense of why Eligos had been reluctant to attack the vampire. Frieda was one of the missing companions we had come here to look for. The elf on the table before the mage was their leader, Eric.
We readied ourselves to engage the powerful vampire lord but rather than engage us he evaporated, as Frieda had done, and floated out through the wall. Minron approached the prone figure of Eric and was able to treat his wounds sufficiently to bring him around. After taking a moment to gain his senses Eric told us of how the Vampire Lord had killed Frieda and resurrected her as a vampire. The lord had also killed our new friends other companion, the paladin Robert who had yet to rise as a vampire but was due to do so imminently.
Minron suggested that separating the paladin from his head would probably prevent him from rising as a vampire, logic that I could not find fault with. This "Bob" cannot have been popular with his adventuring companions as both Rodney and Eligos agreed with Minron immediately. Glen, ever the reasonable voice within the party, suggested that Jacob Silverkin seemed to be a powerful mage and perhaps we could see if he could save the paladin before we summarily executed him. Personally I think chopping his head off was the safer option but who could argue with the dwarf's logic.
It turned out that old Silverkin could resurrect the paladin in the mortal human being sense of the term, so no harm done in the end, unless your name is Frieda of course. Eric and Bob were able to reveal that the party's actions at Shadowfell Keep are likely to keep the Prince of the Undead at bay, at least for the time being. The Order's curiosity satisfied Minron, Vic and I are going to head for Fallcrest to send a report back to our superiors. In the absence of anything else to do Glenn, Rodney and Eligos have decided to join us. Silverkin offered to let Eric and Bob stay at his mansion whilst they recovered from their wounds, an offer they both jumped at.